Orbital ATK launches first space mission since 2014 explosion

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Orbital ATK successfully launched its fourth unmanned Cygnus spacecraft into orbit Sunday afternoon on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. This is the first launch attempt made by the company since its Antares rocket exploded shortly after lift off more than a year ago. This successful return to space will come as a relief to Orbital ATK, but it got there without the custom rocket design at the core of its business plans.

The Antares explosion was the first of two high-profile failures in the space of a few months for NASA’s commercial resupply program. After the Antares launch ended in a fiery explosion in October 2014, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 broke up a few minutes into its mission in June 2015. Early speculation regarding the cause of Orbital ATK’s failure revolved around the engines, and indeed that was the problem. A rocket isn’t much good without reliable engines, so the company made this launch with a standard (but reliable) Atlas V rocket. It’s not as sexy as launching your own rocket, but the Atlas V is a proven design.

Orbital ATK chose to base its Antares design on two refurbished Russian AJ-26 rocket engines, known in this configuration as NK-33 engines. A turbopump failed in one of these engines, leading to the explosion and subsequent crash. The Antares is being refitted with Russian RD-181 engines. In the meantime, Orbital ATK paid United Launch Alliance (ULA) to send up two Cygnus missions on its Atlas V rockets. These rockets also use Russian engines, but they’re the based on RD-180 engines similar to the ones being used in the new Antares.

It took several attempts to get a clear launch window on Sunday, but the payload made it to orbit without a hitch. On board the Cygnus capsule are 7,300 pounds of supplies, including food, scientific equipment, and tools. The delays mean the spacecraft won’t reach the station until Wednesday (it was originally expected today). Luckily, the ISS has gotten several resupply missions since the recent failures.

Another Atlas-based launch from Orbital ATK is expected in the next few months, but the Antares should return to service in time for a resupply mission to go up in May. That’s going to be the real test of Orbital ATK’s prospects. It’s not feasible for it to pay for launches on someone else’s platform indefinitely, but the NASA contract to resupply the station isn’t the kind of thing you can back out on. The suspicion is that ULA cut Orbital a sweet deal to help it get back on track.

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